Closure operator



Oct. 1, 1957 CLOSURE OPERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheei 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1955 INVENTOR.

Oct. 1, 1957 G. E. BROOKBANK CLOSURE OPERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 31, 1955 INVE T R. Y a /zmmlim ilnite States Patent fiice 2,808,257 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 CLOSURE OPERATOR Glen E. Brookbank, Rochester, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application August 31, 1955, Serial No. 531,784

Claims. (Cl. 268-74) This invention relates to a closure operator and more particularly to a closure operator for controlling the simultaneous opening and simultaneous closing movement of oppositely swinging doors.

The closure operator of this invention enables the operator to simultaneously open and simultaneously close a pair of opposite swinging doors by operation of either door. The closure operator also includes a locking mechanism to lock both doors in open position.

An object of this invention is to provide a closure operator for interconnecting a pair of oppositely swinging doors whereby the movement and positioning of both doors is controlled by the operation of either door. Another object of this invention is to provide a closure operator for controlling the simultaneous opening and simultaneous closing movement of oppositely swinging doors by operation of either door and which includes a locking mechanism for holding both doors in open position.

These and other objects of this invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a railway passenger car body employing a closure operator according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the plane indicated by line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the closure operator and the oppositely swinging doors in closed position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the closure operator and the oppositely swinging doors in open position; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 3 showing the locking mechanism of the closure operator for holding the doors in open position.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a railway passenger car body is provided with windows 12 and 14 and a number of baggage compartments 16 positioned below the windows and below the inside floor of the body. The baggage compartments include a compartment 2% within the car body and upper and lower oppositely swinging doors 22 and 24, respectively, which are hinged to the body at 26 by rubber hinges. The rubber hinges are of I cross section and have one side received within channel members 28 having restricted openings and secured to the body 10. T he other side of the hinges is received within similarly shaped channel members 30 secured to an edge of the upper and lower doors. A weather strip 32 carried by the lower door 24 provides a seal between the doors in their closed position.

A U-shaped bracket 34 is secured to a side wall 35 of compartment 20 at 36 and a bell crank lever 38 is pivotally mounted on the bracket at 40. It will be noted that one leg 42 of the bell crank lever is longer than the other leg 44 of the lever. An adjustable link 46 is pivotally secured to leg 44 of the bell crank at 48 and the other end of the link is pivotally secured at 50 to an ofiset bracket 52 which is secured at 54 to one side of the lower door 24. An adjustable link 56, which is longer than link 46, is pivotally secured at 58 to an offset bracket 60 which is secured toone side of door 22 at 62. Brackets 52 and 60 are of similar construction and are secured to the same side of doors 22 and 24. The free end of link 56 is slotted at 64, Figure 4, and the leg 42 of bell crank 38 fits within slot 64 and is pivotally secured to the link at 66.

Leg 42 of the bell crank is provided with an extension 68, and a slidable sleeve 70 is mounted on link 56. A guard 72 having side walls 74 is secured to wall 35 0f the baggage compartment by bolts 76 extending through mounting flanges 78 which extend laterally from the side walls 7d of the guard. The guard prevents interference between opening and closing movement of the closure operator and any baggage within compartment 20.

The upper door 22 is provided with a slam latch arrangement 80 to hold the doors in closed position. This latch arrangement is shown and described in application S. N. 366,921, filed July 9, i953, Eichner, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Since this latch arrangement forms no part of the present invention and since any other suitable known type of latch could be used, no further description will be given.

Referring now particularly to Figures 2, 3, and 4, the operation of the closure operator will be described. When it is desired to open doors 22 and 24 to gain access to compartment 29, the latch arrangement 80 is first actuated to unlatch the upper door 22 from the body 10. The operator then grips the lower edge of door .22 and pulls the door upwardly and outwardly. This shifts link 56 upwardly to move bell crank 38 counterclockwise about pivot 40. As the bell crank moves counterclockwise about pivot 44), link 46 is shifted downwardly to move the lower door 24 downwardly and outwardly. It will be noted that the upper and lower doors swing outwardly in opposite 7 directions since the upper door 22 swings outwardly in a clockwise direction about its hinge 26 and the lower door 24 swings outwardly in a counterclockwise direction about its hinge 26. As the doors approach fully open position,

' downwardly by gravity to locking position over the slot to retain extension 68 within the slot and hold the doors in open position. In this position of the doors as shown in Figure 3, it wili be noted that the lower door 24 is substantially horizontal while the upper door 22 is in a substantially vertical position. The relative position of the upper door 22 is controlled by the length of leg 42 of the bell crank and link 56, and the relative position of the lower door 24 is controlled by the length of leg 44 of the bell crank and link 46. Since leg 44 and link 46 are shorter than leg 42 and link 56, the lower door 24 will move through a smaller arc of travel than the upper door 22.

When it is desired to close the doors, the operator moves sleeve 70 upwardly along link 56 and then moves door 22' downwardly to move extension 68 of the bell crank out of slot 64. After the extension has been moved out of the slot, sleeve 70 is released and then the upper door is also released so that the doors will slam to closed position.

Latch is of the slam type and will securely iockthe doors in closed position.

As the doors moveto closed. position, link 56 will shift downwardly to move bell crank unless the upper dooris manually held in open position or held by the locking mechanism which includes sleeve 70 and extension 68.

Although movement of the doors to open position has been described with reference to the operator lifting the upper door 22, it is obvious that the doors can be moved to open position by the operator pushing downwardly on the lower door 24. However, since it requires less efiort of the operator to lift the upper door 22 than to push the lower door 24 downwardly, it would appear best that the operator open the doors by lifting the upper door.

The closure operator of this invention has been shown and described in conjunction with a railway passenger car body, but it is obvious that 'it may be applied with equal success to other vehicles such as passenger busses. The closure operator is of simple construction and provides an expedient manner of interconnecting a pair of oppositely swinging doors for controlling the simultaneous opening and simultaneous closing movement of the doors.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, various changes and modifications may be made within the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim: 7

1. In combination, a support, a pair of doors hingedly .mounted on said support for opposite swinging movement, and operating means for controlling the opening and closing movement of said doors, said means including lever means pivotally mounted on said support and link means pivotally interconnecting said lever means and each of said doors whereby operation of one of said doors will cause one of said link means to swing said lever means relative to said support to operate the other of said doors through the other of said link means, and locking means for holding both of said doors in open position, said locking means including an extension on said lever means, a slot in one of said link means receiving said extension in the open position of said doors, and means mounted on said one of said link means and movable to a position over said slot to retain said extension therein and thereby hold said doors in open position.

2. In combination, a support, a pair of doors hingedly mounted on said support for opposite swinging movement, operating means for controlling the opening and closing movement of said doors, said means including lever means pivotally mounted on said support and link means pivotally interconnecting said lever means and each of said doors whereby operation of one of said doors will cause one of said link means to swing said lever means relative to said support to operate the other of said doors through the other of said link means, and automatically engageable locking means for holding both of said doors in open position, said locking means including an extension on said lever means, a slot in one of said link means receiving said extension in the open position of said doors, and means slidably mounted on said one of said link means and normally positioned over said slot, said lever means engaging said means during opening movement of said doors for movementlthereof to a position allowing said extension to enter said slot, said means thereafter returning to said normal position thereof to retain said extension Within said slot an thereby hold said doors in open position.

crank lever means and, each of said doors whereby opera,- tion of one of said doors will cause one of said link means to swing said bell crank lever means relative to said support to operate the other of said doors through the other of said link means, and automatically engageable locking means for holding said doors in open position, said locking means including an extension on said bell crank lever means, a slot in said one of said link means receiving said extension in the open position of said doors, a sleeve slidably mounted on said one of said link means and normally positioned over said slot, said sleeve being engageable by said extension during opening movement of said doors for movement along said one of said link means to a position allowing said extension to enter said slot means, said sleeve thereafter returning to said normal position thereof to retain said extension within said slot and thereby hold said doors in open position.

4. In combination, a support, a pair of doors hingedly mounted on said support for opposite swinging movement about horizontal axes, operating means for controlling the opening and closing movement of said doors, said means including a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said support, first link means pivotally interconnecting said bell crank lever and one of said doors, second link means pivotally interconnecting said bell crank lever and the other of said doors, operation of said one of said doors causing said first link means to swing said lever means relative to said support to operate said other of said doors through said'second link means, and locking means for holding both of said doors in open position, said locking means including an extension on said bell crank lever adjacent one of the pivots thereof, a slot in one of said link means receiving said extension in the open position of said doors, and means on said one of said link means for retaining said extension within said slot.

5. In combination, a support, an upper and a lower door hingedly mounted on said support for swinging movement about horizontal axes, operating means for controlling the opening and closing movement of said doors, said means including a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said support, first link means pivotally interconnecting said bell crank lever and said upper door, second link means pivotally interconnecting said bell crank lever and said lower door, said second link means being shorter than first link means, operation-of said upper door to open position causing said first link means to swing said bell crank lever means relative to said support to operate said lower door to open position through said second link means whereby in the open position of said doors said upper door is in a substantially vertical position and said lower door is in a substantially horizontal position, and locking means for holding both of said doors in open position, said locking means including References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,443,736 Garrett Jan. 30, 1923 1,935,101 Rodgers Nov. 14, 1933 1,992,099 Smith Feb. 19, 1935 2,249,932 Beal July 22, 1941 2,541,288 Rice Feb. 13, 1951 

